Texas Tech Baseball:

I've watched the Larry Hays retirement press conference and I came away with a number of different thoughts about Hays that I thought I'd get down. Honestly, I can't wait to read what Hyatt will say about Hays and the program, especially as a guy who has followed the program as much as Hyatt has.

First and foremost, Hays is a guy who loves Texas Tech University. There's no doubt in my mind that he wants Texas Tech and Lubbock to succeed and there's something really comforting about that. I like having guys like that working for my university. There might not be a better salesman for Texas Tech than Hays and a better representative.

I think he's telling the truth with everything he said. I think he wants Spencer to succeed. I think he knew that the smart thing was to let Spencer and Petrie take control of the program and let them run with it.

I give a ton of credit to Hays for being honest with himself, his staff, his players. That's not an easy thing to do. In fact, it's incredibly difficult to do. He had every opportunity to go back next year and improve his record and the wins and losses and if he were to retire then, he could go out with his head held a bit higher. Retiring now says a lot about Hays' character. It's a lot easier to retire when you're on top, it's much more difficult to do when you're on the bottom. It's tough not to let pride get in the way and tell yourself that if you can just hang on for one more year it will be better.

Hays mentioned that by having Spencer and Petrie in place, he's left the program in a better place. I couldn't help but think that if you had asked me a week ago that question, I would have said absolutely not. Texas Tech has finished at the bottom of the Big 12 for 2 years running, and looking at the program from the outside, you'd have your doubts. But there's a lot more to a program than just coaching and recruiting players. There's the part that I don't think about.  It's about upgrading the facilities, getting a new playing surface on the field, getting locker rooms that players can be proud to play.  There's a lot more to leaving a program in a better place than wins or losses and Larry Hays did that.

So, a huge thank you to Larry Hays. Thank you for all of the work you've done and thank you in advance for all of the work that you'll do in the future for Texas Tech.

GET YOUR GUNS UP!!

Texas Tech Baseball:

So far so good. Texas Tech beat Baylor 7-4 on Friday night, and OSU helped out as well, beating OU in their home opener (we need for OSU to win 2 of 3 and Texas Tech needs to sweep).

As with most things in baseball, it all starts with pitching, and Zach Stewart was awfully good last night, going 8.0 innings, 4 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks and striking out 7. James Leverton pitched 0.2 innings, giving up 2 hits, and 1 run, while Brian Cloud closed out the game, getting that final out with a strikeout.

Roger Kieschnick led the oway offensively going 2-5, both hits were home runs for his 15th and 16th home runs of the year and 3 RBI for the day. And don't forget about Willie Rueda who is still is on an incredible streak, going 2-5 and scoring a run. Monk Kreder also went 1-3 with 2 RBI and Chris Richburg and Jason Seefeld each had an RBI.

LAJ's George Watson has the game recap and notes that Stewart, from the 2nd inning forward, retired 10 batters in a row and 20 of the final 23. That's impressive, and here's Stewart:

And Hays on last night's game:

Texas Tech Baseball:

LAJ's George Watson previews this final home series against Baylor where much is on the line. Here's Hays on what has to happen, starting tonight:

Remember that the Red Raiders have to sweep Baylor and OSU has to win 2 of 3 against OU or to win 2 of 3 against Baylor, OSU sweep OU and Kansas sweep K-State. That's a tall order for this group, but Hays says his team came to play every day:

Texas Tech Baseball:

The Red Raiders were able to hold off the Dallas Baptist Patriots for a 9-8 win on Tuesday. Robert Kilcrease pitched 5.0 innings, giving up 9 hits, 6 runs (only 3 earned), 2 walks and 3 strikeouts. The bullpen pitched well in relief, although James Leverton seems to be struggling a bit in his last few appearances. Leverton opened up the 8th inning, pitched only 0.1 innings, giving up 4 hits, 2 runs, both earned, walking none and striking out none. Brian Cloud did come in relief of Leverton, going 1.2 innings, without a blemish and striking out 1.

Willie Rueda continues to play well as he went 1-4 with 2 RBI, but the hero at the plate was Roger Kieschnick who went 2-5 and 3 RBI. Interestingly, Hays moved Kieschnick to third in the lineup, which makes some sense. With Rueda and kenworthy hitting the ball so well and Richburg playing pretty well as well, perhaps this is the best spot to protect Kieschnick.

LAJ's George Watson recaps last night's game. Here's Hays on this weekend's big series with Baylor, remember, the Red Raiders have got to sweep and it all starts on Friday:

Texas Tech Baseball:

LAJ's George Watson previews this mid-week series and mentions that unless the Red Raiders sweep Baylor and OSU beats OU in 2 of three this weekend, Texas Tech is not going to the Big 12 Tournament. There are other variables, but it would take wins and losses from a number of other Big 12 teams. If Texas Tech should take care of business on it's own then we'll get into those variables, but for now, the offense needs to get on track.

Texas Tech Baseball:

The Oklahoma State Cowboys hammer the Red Raiders, 13-3, ensuring Texas Tech of their first losing season since 1987. Freshman pitcher Chad Bettis was lit up, going just 5.0 innings, and giving up 14 hits, 12 runs, all earned walking only 1 and striking out 5. I'm not sure why they left Bettis in for so long. Bettis only threw 96 pitches, and he was throwing strikes 70% of the time. It was just the 3rd and the 5th innings where Bettis really struggled, every other inning Bettis pitched pretty well. I'm still scratching my head over this one.

Cory Large pitched well in relief, with 2.1 innings and giving up 3 hits, 1 run, walking none and striking out 2, while Jordan Stern closed out the game with 0.2 innings, 1 hit, and no runs, walks or strikeouts.

The offense has been quite stagnant since the break for finals, managing only 8 hits and 3 runs. Willie Rueda continues to get on base, going 2-4. Chris Richburg also went 2-4 with a RBI.

Strangely, there is no story from the LAJ this morning.

Texas Tech Baseball:

I'm going to get the bad news out of the way first. The Red Raiders lost the first game in the 3 game series with OSU, 3-2. It stinks that Texas Tech lost, but it's encouraging to think that Zach Stewart, who was the closer until a week or so, pitched really well, going 6.1 innings, giving up 9 hits, 2 runs (1 earned), walking 3 and striking out 4. Stewart was throwing strikes almost 60% of the time, so he was trusting in this defense that's played pretty well all year. James Leverton came in gave up the winning run in relief, going 1.2 innings, giving up 2 hits, 1 run, walking 2 and striking out 2. That's got to be tough for Leverton, who's pitched so well out of the pen this year. I'd imagine that those walks were the killers.

Again, Willie Rueda continues to produce, going 4-4, while Joey Kenworthy also went 1-3. Rueda is getting on base, he's just not getting across he plate as much as we'd like (although he did score both runs). As an aside, Kieschnick, Kreder, Ashby, and Hall all were hitless last night.

LAJ's George Watson recaps the game, saying that it was another close loss. Hays continues to stay positive:

Per DMN's Brian Davis, Dan Spencer was named the baseball program's head coach designate, set to replace incumbent Larry Hays.

Spencer:

Hays:

Texas Tech Baseball:

It's probably not a popular thing to do, but I'm going to consider Sunday's 3-2 loss to OU a good loss. Yes, the offense went to sleep again, but Nate Karns really pitched well. I know, this makes me a bad sports fan, but Karns has been really bad for the most of the year and he finally had a pretty good outing. Karns pitched 4.1 innings, giving up 4 hits, 2 runs, none earned, 3 walks, and 2 strikeouts. Brian Cloud came on in relief, getting the loss, with 3.0 innings, 2 hits 1 run, 1 walk, and 1 strikeout. James Leverton did not give up a hit, walked only 1, and struck out 3 in 1.2 innings of relief.

Chris Richburg and Monk Kreder had the team's only 2 RBI, while Joey Kenworthy also went 2-4 for the day.

LAJ's George Wattson (no permament URL) recaps the game, but most importantly notes that Texas Tech now needs some help to make the Big 12 Tournament:

Reliever Brian Cloud is staying positive:

Here are your Fox34 highlights.

Texas Tech Baseball:

Nice job by Chad Bettis. Bettis pitched the Red Raiders to a 6-2 win over the Sooners on Saturday. It looks like Bettis gave Texas Tech 7.0 solid innings of 6 hit ball, allowing only 2 runs, 1 earned, with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. James Leverton pitched the final 2.0 innings, giving up 1 hits, walking 1 and striking out 2. This is how it is supposed to work. Excellent job.

At the plate, no one managed more than 1 hit for the day, but Logan Leslie pinch hit for Taylor Ashby and came through with a pinch hit single to right, scoring Kieschnick and Richburg. This was all part of a 4 run 6th inning, which put the Red Raiders ahead of the Sooners. Jason Seefeld hit is his 9th home run of the year, while Chris Richburg, Willie Rueda and Chris Hall all each had an RBI.

LAJ's George Watson recaps yesterday's win over Oklahoma, and has this from Bettis, who was pitching on his birthday:

Logan Leslie on his pinch hit single:

Fox34 with your incredibly exciting highlights from Saturday's game, including interiews with Hays, Bettis and Leslie. The slide from Kieschnick was exciting.